Method for improved management of a purchase order by internet

ABSTRACT

A method for improved management of a purchase order comprises searching online for at least one product or group of products similar to each other to be ordered from a generic supplier and obtaining a confirmation of availability. The step of searching for the product to be ordered from the generic supplier can be extended to search for the product or the group of products or alternative products available at at least one alternative supplier. The product or group of products or the alternative products found at the alternative supplier are inserted into a shopping cart of the alternative supplier and compared with the product or the group of products of the generic supplier. The extension of the search is started automatically by a search and compare software application authorized by the user and provided by the alternative supplier.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for improvedmanagement of a purchase order via the Internet in a manner thatimproves computer efficiency, for example, an order for the purchase ofproducts which are similar or different, or services which in turn aresimilar or different.

BACKGROUND

Problems exist in the field of Internet order purchasing, for example,the online purchasing of products or services. It is difficult andinefficient to provide the User with sufficient information, such asprice, payment conditions, technical details and other aspects, whichwould allow the User to compare the purchase against other possiblepurchases for similar or alternative goods and/or services. Theseproblems may be characterized, for example, as a technical challengethat is particular and tied to computers and the Internet, including(for example) difficulties and lack of computer efficiencies inretrieving from various websites alternative products and/or services,preventing a User from having to launch multiple webpages (therebyconsuming computer resources), difficulties in formulating comparativeorders sourced from different Suppliers and/or websites and presentingthem to Users in an efficient manner, and others.

Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that would allow aUser to (prior to finalizing an on-line order) quickly and efficientlyview comparable orders sourced from other Suppliers so that the User isable to compare the quality of the order he/she created against otherpossible orders. Similarly, there is a need for systems and methods thatwould allow the Supplier or the retailer of goods and/or services thatcan be purchased on-line to provide information about the goods and/orservices offered, including technical and price information, which maybe useful for readily comparing against the quality of an order createdby a User, providing (for example) an indication of the savings whichthe User could obtain by avoiding placing the order with other Suppliersor retailers, both in terms of the cost of the product or service itselfand in the terms of the overall cost (e.g., shipping, handling, etc.),said information being supplied automatically to the User duringpreparation of an order, thus avoiding the User having to prepare orcreate the order with another Supplier, and therefore overcoming thelimitations and drawbacks which hitherto affect the methods and thesystems according to the prior art. The solution to this need isnecessarily rooted in computer technology, and the present disclosureovercomes the problems specifically arising in the realm of computernetworks and the Internet.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes, in one embodiment, executing anapplication associated with a Supplier A, for example, a Supplier of ITproducts. or electronic devices or software, or different durable goodsor services, only after a User (e.g., a purchaser) has prepared an ordervia the Internet with a Supplier B, acquiring in the (software)application of the Supplier A the order of the Supplier B andreformulating the order automatically in said application, with products(or services) which are identical (and/or comparable) to those foundwith the Supplier B or with alternative products (or services) availablein the sales network of the Supplier A, providing said products (orservices) with comparative information, including, for example, theprice, which may help the User to make a quick comparison between theoffers of Supplier A and the Supplier B, and to confirm the order of theSupplier A, if it is better than that of the Supplier B. In anembodiment, Supplier B can be a generic or usual Supplier and Supplier Acan be an alternative Supplier to the Supplier B.

Advantageously, an order for different articles may be reformulatedautomatically with the products or with alternative products of theSupplier A and without any action on the part of the User. For example,the application associated with the Supplier A may be executed onlyafter the order has been prepared with the Supplier B and therefore itmay receive en bloc all the information relating to the differentarticles X, Y necessary for formulating a comparative offer. Theapplication may be executed upon confirmation of the order to Supplier Band before said order has been sent or processed by the Supplier B forpayment and supply.

According to the present disclosure, the comparison may be carried outby reversing the steps of searching for the products available with theSupplier B and the Supplier A, for example, by allowing the User tocompile firstly the order, including the products, with the Supplier Band proposing the corresponding products or alternative products of theSupplier A subsequently.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure comprises a method for improvedmanagement of a purchase order by Internet, comprising the steps of:

searching on-line for at least one product or group of products (and/orservice or group of services) to be ordered from a Supplier B;

obtaining a confirmation of availability; and characterized in that thestep of searching for the product (and/or service(s)) to be ordered fromthe Supplier B can be extended to search for the product or the group ofproducts or alternative products (and/or service(s) available from atleast one Supplier A who is an alternative to the Supplier B, and

the product or the group of products or the alternative products (and/orservice(s)) found with the Supplier A may be entered in a shopping cartof the Supplier A and compared, in said cart of the Supplier A, with theproduct or group of products (and/or service(s) of the Supplier B;wherein

the extension of the search step may be started automatically by asearch and compare (software) application authorized by the User andprovided by the Supplier A.

The User may prepare an order for products with a customary Supplier B,for example, an order comprising a notebook and a monitor, andautomatically receive, at the end of said order, a comparative offerfrom the Supplier A, in which each product ordered from the Supplier Bmay be compared with a similar product offered by the Supplier A or withan alternative product of said Supplier A, and in which the offer ororder automatically proposed by the Supplier A comprises the technicaland/or cost-related information (and/or any other desired information)relating to the individual products and to the entire order, whichallows the User to make the most appropriate choice.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the orderproposed by the Supplier A as an alternative to the Supplier B isgenerated automatically by means of the search and compare softwareapplication installed on the electronic device of the User, whichreceives as its input the information relating to the order with theSupplier B and provides as its output the alternative order with thecomparative information. This software application may be configured asmiddleware or an input/output interface between the sales system (forexample, the on-line shop) of the Supplier B and the sales system of theSupplier A.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the searchand compare software application may also be executed manually by theUser, e.g., without being activated beforehand by the website or on-lineshop of the Supplier B. This execution mode may be advantageous forsearching for promotions directly with the Supplier A or for preparingan order directly with the Supplier A.

According to a method of the present disclosure, several types of ordersmay be implemented using different shopping carts, e.g., an onlinepurchase cart. A first type of cart (“Standard cart” or “standard cart”)may be associated with new or standard products, a second type of cart(“Outlet cart” or “outlet cart”) may be associated with partiallydefective or outlet products; and a third type of cart (“Solutions cart”or “solutions cart”) may be associated with services which are combinedor associated with given products, and the carts of said different typesmay be selected via a web module (for example as shown in exemplaryscreenshot/mask 1200 of FIG. 12).

A plurality of carts associated with one or more types of carts may behandled simultaneously, for example, creating a new purchase cart,saving a purchase cart with the associated products or groups ofproducts, eliminating a cart, or performing the check-out of a cart.

For example, a check-out of the cart may comprise a transfer of theordered products in the Supplier cart to a purchase system of theSupplier A, said purchase system being designed to perform management ofthe payment, invoicing, delivery of the ordered products, etc. Thepurchase system may be separate from the search and compare application;for example, this system may be the online shop of the Supplier A.

The search and compare software application may be executed asmiddleware or a data input/output interface between a purchase system ofthe Supplier B and a purchase system of the Supplier A, and themiddleware may receive as its input the products ordered by the User inthe purchase system of the Supplier B and provide as its output, for thepurchase system of the Supplier A, the products, the groups of productsor the alternative products which the User intends on purchasing fromthe Supplier A.

The present disclosure may provide an improved system for managing apurchase order by Internet, and in particular an order for similar ordifferent articles, (for example goods or services), comprising a searchand compare software application installed on an electronic device of aUser, provided by a Supplier of similar products, said search andcompare software application comprising:

means for intercepting a confirmation of an order for products or groupsof products placed via the Internet via the electronic device with aSupplier B;

means for reading information relating to the products or groups ofproducts ordered from the Supplier B or means for formulating an orderfor said products, groups of products or alternative products with theSupplier A;

means for inserting said products, groups of products or alternativeproducts of the Supplier A in a shopping cart of the Supplier A togetherwith comparative information relating to said products or groups ofproducts available from the Supplier B,

wherein said search and compare application being intended to beauthorized by the User before execution on the electronic device.

According to an exemplary system of the present disclosure, the searchand compare software application may be run in the background along withthe other applications of the electronic device preparing the order inthe purchase system of the Supplier B, or hidden from the User, and saidmeans for intercepting the order may modify the state of execution ofthe software application, making it visible to the User, so as to allowpurchase of the order and its transfer to a purchase system of theSupplier A.

Further characteristic, features and advantages of the methods and thesystems according to the present disclosure will become clear from thedescription herein below with reference to the accompanying drawingsprovided purely by way of non-limiting examples.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, and will become apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to likeparts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a screenshot of an exemplary client software application ofa Supplier B according to an exemplary method for managing an order, andmore particularly, the figure shows the cart page of a Supplier B in thebackground, and the figure shows in the foreground an automatic requestwindow of the software application for creating the cart of a SupplierA, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary web interface which is retrieved by a searchand compare application of a Supplier A, upon completion of an orderperformed, for example, with the client application of FIG. 1, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows in schematic form an exemplary search and compareapplication, for example of FIG. 2, installed in four different browsersor navigators of a User device, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary screen for access to a web interface of thesearch and compare application, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary variant of an interface, for example, accordingto FIG. 2, in which the prices of the products ordered from a Supplier Band the snap-shot of the cart of this Supplier B are shown, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary interface, for example of FIG. 2 or FIG. 5,during an operating step where the cart of a Supplier A or B is emptyand no available products have been identified, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary interface, for example of FIG. 2 or FIG. 5,where a search section (upper frame) has been expanded in an advancedoperating mode, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a screenshot of the result of an exemplary search,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a screenshot of an exemplary result of a snap-shot of thecart of a Supplier A or B to which a further product and/or service or asolutions product has been added by the User, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary graphical interface showing the orders or cartsmanaged in the past by a given User and for which the ordered productshave been purchased, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary graphical interface showing the orders or cartsmanaged in the past by a given User and for which the ordered productshave been saved but not yet purchased, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary screenshot/mask for access to the variousfunctions provided by the order management method, the mask being shownwith selection of four different User functions, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the accompanying drawings, systems and methods formanaging an order via the Internet according to the present disclosure,and in particular systems and methods for managing the order of productsand/or services via electronic devices and the like or similar and/ordifferent goods and/or services is described below.

The term “computer” or “computing device” shall refer to any electronicdevice or devices, including those having capabilities to be utilized inconnection with a purchase order system, such as any device capable ofreceiving, transmitting, processing and/or using data and information. Acomputer or computing device may comprise one or more of the following:a server, a processor, a microprocessor, a personal computer, such as alaptop, palm PC, desktop or workstation, a network server, a mainframe,an electronic wired or wireless device, such as for example, atelephone, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, asmartphone, an interactive television, such as for example, a televisionadapted to be connected to the Internet or an electronic device adaptedfor use with a television, an electronic pager or any other computingand/or communication device.

In one embodiment, one or more specifically configured computers orcomputing devices may be specifically configured to perform and exhibitthe various features and methods described herein.

The term “User(s)” or “user(s)” shall refer to any person or entity (orsystem) that utilizes directly or indirectly the systems and/or methodsdescribed herein, including, without limitation, a person or entity (orsystem) who desires to purchase online (e.g., via Internet or otherwired or wireless network) products and/or services, irrespective as towhether the User is a physical person, a Supplier and/or any other typeif entity. The term “Supplier(s)” or “supplier(s)” shall refer to anyperson or entity (or system) that may directly or indirectly supply anyproducts and/or services, including, without limitation, an organizationor a physical person who is performing the function of supplying theproducts or services, irrespective as to whether they are a retailer, amanufacturer, an actual supplier or any other type of entity.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure relates to the improvedmanagement of orders for the purchase by Internet of electronic or ITarticles that include, for example, (without limitation): personalcomputers, notebooks, PDAs, smartphones, monitors, printers and officedevices in general, or software, such as management or accountingprograms, programs for managing documents, graphics, music, etc., orservices associated with information technology, such as theinstallation of printers, software upgrades, hardware and softwaremaintenance or toner disposal. It should be understood, however, thatthe present disclosure is not limited thereto. To the contrary, thepresent disclosure relates to the purchase of any type of productsand/or services.

In another embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a method of thetype mentioned above for ordering products or durable goods and/orservices (including services compatible with these products/goods).

The present disclosure also relates to a system for improved managementof a purchase order, comprising electronic devices which are connectedto the Internet (or any other wired or wireless network) and by means ofwhich it is possible to search for products and/or services to bepurchased and prepare at least one order for them.

The present disclosure solves problems that exist in the field ofInternet order purchasing and computer systems for on-line purchase, theproblems including, for example, a technical challenge that isparticular and tied to computers and the Internet, including (forexample) difficulties and lack of computer efficiencies in retrievingfrom various websites alternative products and/or services, preventing apurchase from having to launch multiple webpages (thereby consumingcomputer resources), difficulties in formulating alternative orderssourced from different Suppliers and/or websites and presenting them toUsers in an efficient manner, and others.

The present disclosure may be validly applied for the purchase of singleproducts or groups of products which are similar to each other ordifferent, without limitation. Purely by way of a non-exhaustiveexample, the following are mentioned (without limitation): personalcomputers, notebooks, PDAs, smartphones, monitors, printers, officedevices in general or software, such as management or accountingprograms, or programs for managing documents, graphics or music, etc.

Similarly, the present disclosure may be validly applied for thepurchase of single services or groups of services which are similar toeach other or different, without limitation. Purely by way of anon-exhaustive example, the following are mentioned (withoutlimitation): services connected with the information technology sector,such as the installation of printers, software upgrades, hardware orsoftware maintenance or toner disposal.

It is possible for the purchase of products to be combined with thepurchase of services compatible with these products.

An order, according to the present disclosure, may be an ordercomprising, for example (without limitation), n products—similar ordifferent—of a same brand or manufacturer or of different brands ormanufacturers, software, hardware, electronic accessories or components,mobile phones, desktop or portable computers, printers, smartphones,servers, video games, consoles, monitors, graphic boards, and so on.

It is possible for a method according to the present disclosure to beimplemented for the management of a single order, for example (withoutlimitation), composed of a single product, and therefore for it to beapplicable for facilitating management of an end User order involvingsmall quantities, for example, the purchase of a single article.

According to another exemplary method of the present disclosure, a Userpossessing an electronic device, for example a portable or desktopcomputer connected to the Internet, may connect up to an Internetaddress where products can be ordered, for example an on-line shop ornoticeboard or a search function which is made available at saidInternet address. In another embodiment, the User may formulate theorder via an Intranet application of the client-server type for managingorders.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the Internetaddress or the client and server software application may be associatedwith a Supplier B of products and/or services, for example, a usualSupplier of the User, and provide access to an order compilation maskwhere it is possible to search for the products and/or services,indicate the desired quantities and display the respective costs ortechnical details.

An example of said mask or interface is schematically shown inscreenshot 100 of FIG. 1 in the background and deliberately shaded, itnot being necessary to be able view its contents. In the Supplier mask,the User may search online for at least one product or group of productsto be ordered from the Supplier B. “Products” are understood as meaning,for example, similar products belonging to a same category of goods, forexample, various IT products or durable goods or consumables, forexample, food products. However, the present disclosure is not limitedto this aspect and may be applied to any type of products and/orservices, including those which are different and unrelated from eachother.

An exemplary method according to this disclosure may be applicable toany category of goods, for ordering products and also similar productsfrom a given Supplier B. The software application available at theInternet address or the client software application of the Supplier B,following compilation of the order, may respond with an availabilityconfirmation (for example, only for the products available).

According to the present disclosure, the step of searching for a product(and/or service) to be ordered from the Supplier B may be extended to asearch for the product or the group of products or alternative products(and/or service(s)) with at least one Supplier A who is an alternativeto the Supplier B.

For example, extension of the search step may be started automaticallyby a search and compare software application authorized by the User andprovided by the Supplier A.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, this software application isinstalled on the electronic device(s) of the User, for example, on acomputer, service, mobile device (and/or any other electroniccommunication and/or computer processing device), and intercepts theorder compiled by the User for the Supplier B (e.g., shown in thescreenshot/mask 100 of FIG. 1), including the code of the articles orproducts ordered, the price, the technical details available, and itthen uses said codes and details in order to identify, in a databank ofthe Supplier A, the corresponding products or alternative products, andreformulate an alternative order for the Supplier A.

For example, the software application which is installed on theelectronic device of the User reads the HTML code of the Supplier B bymeans of a POST event, which is verified for example when the Userclicks on “Send order”. The code of an HTML page may be availableunencrypted, such that each web page navigator may retrieve thisinformation via the command “right-hand button” and then “view source”following a POST event which activates reading.

The software application may then capture the HTML code of the SupplierA's cart and perform parsing thereof in order to obtain the result of aJSON object, for example, according to predetermined specifications.

The parsing service can be broken down into two services, the firstperforming proper parsing of the HTML code, for example, of unencrypteddata, of the Supplier B for creation of the cart, while the secondcarries out a search within the catalogue of the Supplier A for creationof the final cart to be proposed to the User.

By way of a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,a description of an “alternative product generation” subroutine isprovided below, said subroutine performing so-called parsing of the HTMLcode of the Supplier B's page which is visited by the User and isfetched.

Following the input request authorized by the User, the aforementionedsubroutine is retrieved by means of the POST command and starts theprocedure of the method according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Certain properties may be defined in the header, forexample:

AuthToken: BBB Language: it

In POST, other properties may be entered, for example, the names of theSupplier B or the providers of the products:

alternativesupplier: “XXYYZZ”

The information of the cart to be saved may be entered in the body of anhap request:

<html> ................ </html> Result positive (or no product found)“productId”: “1”, “alternativesupplierId”: “1323”,“alternativesupplierPrice”: 750, “alternativesupplierAvailableQuantity”:2, “alternativesupplierQuantity”: 2, “supplierProductId”: “3”,“supplierName”: “Provider”, “isInCart”: true, “images”: null, “title”:“product title”, “description”: “product description”,“availableQuantity”: null, “quantity”: null, “estimatedTimeAttend”:null, “OurPrice”: null, “points”: null, “technicalDataSheetUrl”: null,“children”: null

The order which may be upgraded with the Supplier A is displayed on theelectronic device with a comparison of the products which are ready forordering from the Supplier B and the Supplier A.

For example, the product or the group of products or the alternativeproducts (and/or service(s)) found with the Supplier A may be enteredautomatically into a shopping cart of the Supplier A and compared, insaid cart of the Supplier A, with the product or group of products ofthe Supplier B (for example, as shown in exemplary web interface 200 ofFIG. 2 and exemplary variant of an interface 500 of FIG. 5).

Advantageously, according to this embodiment of the present disclosure,the User not only is relieved of the bothersome task of having toformulate again the order with the Supplier A in order to obtain acomparison of the orders, but he also does not have to deal with fillingthe shopping cart of the Supplier A, should the Supplier A be chosen forthe order, following a comparison of the orders. In addition, the User'scomputing device is not burdened with having to expend resourcesformulating a comparative order and/or filling yet another shoppingcart.

The on-line search step may be performed by means of a softwareapplication of the Supplier B (for example, client application or webapplication retrieved by the Internet address of the Supplier B) whichmay insert the products or the group of products into a shopping cartassociated with the Supplier B, and the search and compare applicationof the Supplier A may transfer the products or group of products of theSupplier B to the shopping cart of the Supplier A.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the comparison stepcomprises a comparison of the price of the product or group of productsor alternative products (and/or service(s)) available from a Supplier Awith the price of the product or group of products available from aSupplier B. The comparison may be carried out on a single article and/orthe entire cart. In other words, the comparison step may also comprise acomparison of the price (and/or other details) of all the products orgroup of products or alternative products (and/or service(s)) in theshopping cart of the Supplier A with the price (and/or other details) ofall the products or group of products (and/or service(s)) searched forwith the Supplier A.

The search and compare application may comprise a web interface whichdisplays the products or groups of products compared in the shoppingcart of the Supplier A (for example, as shown in exemplary variant of aninterface 500 of FIG. 5). The web interface may be activatedautomatically, for example, at the end of compilation of the order withthe Supplier B; and activation may be subject to a User authorization,for example, by means of a pop-up or an alert window, for example, asshown in screenshot 100 of FIG. 1.

The products, groups of products or alternative products (and/orservice(s)) of the Supplier A may be divided up into standard products,products which are discounted because of minor defects, and combinedproducts, and the standard or combined products may be searched forseparately or jointly by means of the web interface where they areidentified by means of a graphical symbol corresponding to them.

The web interface may not only be an interface for fetching the orderformulated with the Supplier B and reformulating it according to theoffer of the Supplier A, but may also be an interface for searching forthe products or groups of products (and/or service(s)) which may beavailable from the Supplier A.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cart of a Supplier A orB may be empty and no available products may be identified (for example,as shown in exemplary interface 600 of FIG. 6).

The web interface may comprise a counter which is associated with eachitem in the cart, so as to vary a quantity of products and/or servicesto be purchased, and/or a graphical symbol representing an immediate orfuture availability of the products and/or services from the Supplier Aand/or a type of product and/or service, said type including partiallydefective products and/or services (e.g., “outlet” products) anddefect-free products and/or services. The counter may be varied both ifthe interface comprises the products and/or services derived from theorder previously formulated with the Supplier B, and if the interfacecomprises products and/or services derived directly from a search in thedatabase of the Supplier A. The web interface may act as a shopping orpurchase cart.

A User who notes a significant saving in the purchase of n productsand/or services from the Supplier A compared to the Supplier B mayimmediately increase the number of products and/or services to beordered in the cart of the Supplier A, with respect to that initiallyentered in the cart of the Supplier B.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the search andcompare application may be downloaded from an Internet site or addressof the Supplier A, for example, as an executable file, and theexecutable file may be installed simultaneously in all the main browsersor navigators (for example, without limitation, iExplorer, Chrome,Firefox, etc.) available on an electronic device of the User orselectively in one or more of said available browsers or navigators.

Installation of the application may comprise a step requiring acceptanceof the use and privacy conditions by the User, these also beingpreferably displayed again for acceptance even after initial log-in tothe application. The language of the search and compare application maybe set as default to correspond to the language of the browser and canin any case be modified by means of a settings panel of the application.

Following installation, the search and compare application may beexecuted manually by the User, by accessing an initial temporary welcomepage (for example as shown in schematic 300 of FIG. 3) and anauthentication screen (for example as shown in exemplary screen 400 ofFIG. 4).

Authentication may be both for Users with a username and passwordobtained beforehand by means of registration on the website of theSupplier A, or for temporary Users with limited rights of use, saidUsers for example being prevented from completing the order (anexemplary check-out step is described below). Temporary use may beobtained by inserting information identifying a company requestingaccess, for example the company's title, name and surname of the legalrepresentative, email address, telephone number, VAT code and/or taxcode. It is possible, by means of encryption of the VAT (or any otheridentifying) code, to verify certain conditions which may also allowcontinuation of the temporary registration or terminate the procedureshould given conditions not be satisfied.

According to the present disclosure, the products or groups of products(and/or service(s)) to be ordered from an authorized Supplier maycomprise new products, products which are partially defective, forexample consisting of a previously returned product, and combinedsolutions and/or services.

Merely by way of example, a new product may be a personal computer, thepartially defective product may be a personal computer which isaesthetically or visibly damaged, but perfectly operational, and thesolution may be a set of products which can be purchased en bloc, forexample in order to create a server or a video game or a cloud platform.

By any appropriate means, such as for example via a web interface, it ispossible to search for separately or jointly the new products, partiallydefective products or solutions and/or services by selecting apushbutton on the graphical interface of the application and managingits shopping carts. The products, services and/or the solutions may beassociated with a first standard cart and the partially defectiveproducts, solutions and/or services may be associated with a secondshopping cart, for separate processing of the orders.

The web interface of the Supplier B may comprise a specific searchsection which is expandable and collapsible (for example as shown inexemplary interface 700 of FIG. 7) and which may be present on all orany of the pages of the client application. Said search section may beavailable in the shopping cart of the alternative Supplier A. Forexample, a function may be provided for accessing a shopping cart fornew products (e.g., Standard cart) or a shopping cart for partiallydefective products (e.g., Outlet cart), each of them being provided witha search function, preferably able to provide results for both newproducts and partially defective products, irrespective as to whetherthe search is called up from the new products cart or the partiallydefective products cart (for example as shown in screenshot 800 of FIG.8). By way of default the search mask may be displayed in compact modeand by clicking an expansion button it can be displayed in advancedmode.

To illustrate, by means of an advanced search, different search contextsmay be defined: for example, in a “Standard” context the search may becarried out only for new articles, products, solutions and/or services;and in an “Outlet” context, a search may be carried out only forpartially defective articles, products, solutions and/or services. It ispossible to carry out a search in both contexts and apply certain searchfilters, including: products, solutions and/or services present in thecart, products, solutions and/or services present in database(s) of theSupplier A, and products, solutions and/or services present both in thecart and in the database(s) of the Supplier A.

The choice of a context or a filter may be carried out by clicking on acorresponding icon (or any other means); the context or filter selectedmay be indicated by a check symbol (for example, at the top on the rightin the figure). By way of default, searching for articles may be in thedatabase(s) of the Supplier A, in the Standard and Outlet context.

Several items, connected by a search operator, such as “AND”, may beentered in the search mask. The results of the search may be displayedin pages, for example up to a maximum of 50 elements per page (forexample as shown in screenshot 800 of FIG. 8).

The articles, products, solutions and/or services displayed after thesearch or cart transfer may be ordered according to certain criteria,including (without limitation): 1. available products, solutions and/orservices; 2. products, solutions and/or services awaiting supply; and 3.all other categories. The products, solutions and/or services may alsobe ordered according to any criteria, including, for example, at leastone of the following criteria: seller; increasing price; and decreasingprice, rating, units sold, etc.

After carrying out a search, the User may select the products, solutionsand/or services to be inserted in the cart and/or enter the quantity andthe products, solutions and/or services in the cart may be marked with acheck symbol.

The search may also come up with products, solutions and/or serviceswhich are an alternative to those searched for. These products,solutions and/or services may be indicated by means of a link with theoriginal item(s), but products, solutions and/or services similar tothose searched for, but which are more advantageous, for example withthe same performance and lower price or the same price and betterperformance, could also be indicated.

By means of an exemplary interface as shown in screenshot 900 of FIG. 9,it is possible to view the complete list of articles (e.g., products,solutions and/or services) present in the cart or the articles offeredas an alternative to those selected. This interface may comprise asection which lists the articles with the following information (withoutlimitation): a picture of the article, a short description of thearticle, the part number (e.g., code), the quantity, the price of theSupplier B (e.g., in the case where the cart of the Supplier A has beenfilled based on the cart of the Supplier B and not directly orexclusively from a search for products in the database of the SupplierA), the price of the article from the Supplier A, the availability ofthe article (e.g., where available=green; momentarily notavailable=orange, with an indication of the expected date of arrival ofthe merchandise and respective quantity; and an article not in pricelist=grey) and the quantity of the article available in the warehouse ofthe Supplier A.

In addition to the information given above, the articles may bedistinguished by an icon or graphical symbol.

By positioning the pointer of a mouse or a touch screen interface orother selection and pointer system on an article, a window with anindication of the price of the article from any other Supplier B (e.g.,generic Supplier) and the price from the Supplier A (e.g., alternativeSupplier) may be displayed and a further click with the mouse may allowthe information to be expanded for further technical details.

Similarly, by positioning said pointer on the picture of the alternativearticle, a comparative profile of the article may be selected and thecorresponding article of the Supplier B may be displayed, in this casealso, with a further click, a comparison between the respective pricesmay be highlighted. By positioning the pointer on the picture of thefather article, the technical profile of the father article aloneincluding the price may be displayed. In a similar manner to theprocedure for an article, by positioning the pointer on a “Solution”,the technical profile of the solution may be displayed.

The web interface also may comprise a summary section which shows anysavings obtained by confirming the order with the Supplier A, pointsobtained by placing said order, which may be used later for discounts orother purchases, and the total price of the cart.

In order to proceed with the purchase of the products in the cart, aCheck-Out button may be provided for activating a function whichcompletes the purchase. The function may check that the cart isup-to-date and, in the case of a discrepancy between the values (e.g.,price) displayed and those in the price list, it may propose to the Userthe option of accepting updated prices, continuing in this case withcheck-out of the updated prices, or the option of refusing the order.

The “Outlet” shopping cart may substantially correspond, in terms offunctional features, to the “Standard” shopping cart, with a number ofdifferences which allows one to specify, for example, the reason forwhich the product is considered to be partially defective. Inparticular, the following information may be provided (withoutlimitation): picture of the article, article code, short description ofthe article, notes describing the article defect, manufacturer code,quantity required, price of the original article, outlet price, andavailability.

The “Solutions” shopping cart also may have functional features whichsubstantially correspond to those of the Standard cart, with one or morecharacteristic differences, for example, that a “solution” is a set ofstandard articles, for example four or less than four articles whichmust be purchased together or in any case products or services which arein some way related for example: a printer, the corresponding toner andthe paper and/or installation thereof.

Each “solution” may be characterized by the following information(without limitation): a picture for each article which forms thesolution, the article codes, a short description of the solution, thedate of availability, the quantity required, the quantity available, andthe price of the solution.

The products in the “Solutions” category, may be managed separately fromthe partially defective products (e.g., Outlet category) and thereforemay be in a third cart for the solutions which does not contain outletproducts.

Other integrated modules for managing points earned during the order(e.g., “Achievements”) may be provided. Storing the list of the last ncarts of the User may be divided up into 1) completed carts (for exampleas shown in exemplary graphical interface 1000 of FIG. 10), e.g., cartsfor which the check-out operation has been performed; 2) saved Standardcarts (for example as shown in exemplary graphical interface 1100 ofFIG. 11), e.g., carts relating to an order for new products or solutionsfor which check-out has not yet been performed; 3) saved Outlet carts,Displaying a list of carts may be distinguished, for example (withoutlimitation) by the cart type (e.g., Completed, saved Standard, savedOutlet), the date of creation or completion of the cart, the cart name(e.g., name assigned by the User upon initial saving of the cart), cartidentification (e.g., order identification), the cart state (e.g.,completed or saved); the cart value (e.g., total amount), and thepayment terms.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a module forconfirmation of an order is provided. Said module may be available toregistered Users who have a username and password (or other identifyinginformation) and may not be available to temporary Users, who may beinvited by the confirmation module to complete registration with ausername and password. The temporary User may be advised to register bymeans of a message sent from the website of the Supplier A.

For Users which already have access credentials, the confirmation modulemay check for the remaining credit associated with the client, thepayment date which the User intends to use, for example (withoutlimitation) 30 days, or 60 days. Depending on the selected payment date,an increase in the total amount of the cart, for example by 0.3%, mayoccur.

At the end of the check-out function, data relating to the order and thepayment may be transferred to a server of the Supplier A which managesthe order, the invoicing and the despatch. independently.

The methods and systems according to the present disclosure may be usedfor management of the order and may also include management of thepurchase, including the invoice or financial transaction, allowing theseoperating steps to be managed in the purchase system of the Supplier A.

The methods and the systems according to the present disclosure maysolve technical problems described above and achieve numerousadvantages, including (without limitation) that they enable an intendedpurchase by a User to be intercepted and an alternative or a choice tobe offered, and they reduce resource consumption and increase computingefficiency of the computing devices and system components implementand/or executing the methods and systems described herein.

The methods and the systems according to the present disclosure mayprovide User advantages, including (without limitation) that they canallow a User to compare the price of a product and check carefully itstechnical details before making a purchase, and this check can becarried out by connecting up to the on-line shops of various Suppliers,making a note of the prices and the details of the products of interestoffered by each Supplier, and choosing the product and the Supplier onthe basis of the selling price or purchase conditions or other specificcharacteristics of the product and/or service which is to be purchased.

A search and compare software application according to the presentdisclosure may be configured to act as an interface between an orderplaced with a Supplier A and the on-line sales system of the Supplier Aand may not completely replace the functional features of said salessystem, but may supply it with information, for example, in the casewhere the User recognizes the offer of the Supplier A as beingadvantageous.

This structuring of the search and compare software application in theform of a specific program or middleware between the client applicationof the Supplier B, on the one hand, and the on-line sales system of theSupplier B, on the other hand, may reduce to the minimum the memoryspace and system requirements needed to implement the method of thepresent disclosure in the electronic device of the User, and may alsospeed up the formulation of the alternative offer of the Supplier B.

In other words, the method may be implemented by operating between thedifferent on-line sales systems of the Supplier B and the Supplier A,acting as a one-way interface with the sales system of the Supplier Aand/or B, but avoiding duplicating the sale management functions alreadypresent in the sales system of said Supplier A and/or B.

1. A method for improved management of a purchase order, comprising:searching, by one or more computing devices, online for at least oneproduct or group of products to be ordered from a first supplier;obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a confirmation ofavailability, wherein the step of searching for the product to beordered from the first supplier comprises automatically searching forthe product or the group of products or alternative products availablefrom at least one second supplier who is an alternative to the firstsupplier, said automatic searching being initiated by a search andcompare software application authorized by a user and provided by thesecond supplier; entering, by the one or more computers, the product orthe group of products or the alternative products found at the secondsupplier into a shopping cart of the second supplier; and presenting, bythe one or more computers, the product or the group of products or thealternative products found at the second supplier in said shopping cartof the second supplier with the product or group of products of thefirst supplier for comparison.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the on-line searching step comprises searching for, togetherwith the products, at least one service or group of services.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said online searching step isperformed by means of a software application of the first supplierwherein the software application inserts the products or the group ofproducts into a shopping cart associated with the first supplier, andsaid search and compare software application of the second suppliertransfers the products or group of products from the cart of the firstsupplier to the cart of the second supplier.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising comparing a price of the product or group ofproducts or alternative products available from the second supplier witha price of the product or group of products available from the firstsupplier.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingcomparing a purchase price of all the products or group of products oralternative products in the shopping cart of the second supplier with apurchase price of all the products or group of products searched for atthe first supplier.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein saidsearch and compare software application of the second supplier activatesa web interface which displays the products or groups of productscompared in the shopping cart of the second supplier, wherein opening ofsaid web interface is authorized by the user.
 7. The method according toclaim 1 wherein said search and compare software application comprises aplug-in and said plug-in is installed in at least one browser ornavigator of an electronic device used by the user to formulate theorder.
 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein said products, groupsof products or alternative products of the second supplier comprise oneor more of new or standard products, products which are discountedbecause of minor defects, and combined products or solutions, whereinsaid standard or combined products are searched for and orderedseparately or together via said web interface and are distinguished insaid interface by an associated graphical symbol corresponding to them,and said partially defective products are searched for and orderedseparately from said standard products and solutions.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein a plurality of carts associated with oneor more types of products are managed simultaneously, wherein saidmanagement comprises creating a new shopping cart, saving the shoppingcart with the associated products or groups of products, deleting thecart, and checking out the cart.
 10. The method according to claim 9,wherein checking out comprises transferring the ordered products in thecart to a purchase system of the second supplier, said purchase systembeing configured to perform management of the payment, invoicing anddelivery of the ordered products.
 11. The method according to claim 1,wherein said search and compare software application is executed asmiddleware or a data input/output interface between a purchase system ofthe first supplier and a purchase system of the second supplier, saidmiddleware receiving as its input the products ordered by the user inthe purchase system of the first supplier and providing as its output,for the purchase system of the first supplier, the products, the groupsof products or the alternative products which the user intends topurchase from the second supplier.
 12. The method according to claim 6,wherein said web interface comprises a counter which is associated witheach product in the cart, in order to vary a quantity of products to bepurchased, or a graphical symbol representing an immediate or futureavailability of the product from the second supplier or a type ofproduct, said type including partially defective products anddefect-free products.
 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein saidsearch and compare software application is downloaded from an Internetsite or address of the second supplier, as an executable file, and saidexecutable file installed simultaneously in all the main browsers ornavigators available on an electronic device of the user or selectivelyin one or more of said available browsers or navigators.
 14. A methodfor improved management of a purchase order, comprising: searchingon-line, by one or more computing devices, for at least one service orgroup of services to be ordered from a first supplier; obtaining, by theone or more computing devices, a confirmation of availability of the atleast one service or group of services, wherein the step of searchingfor the service to be ordered from the first supplier comprisessearching for the service or the group of services or alternativeservices available from at least one second supplier who is analternative to the first supplier, said automatic searching beinginitiated by a search and compare software application authorized by auser and provided by the second supplier; entering, by the one or morecomputer devices, the service or the group of services or thealternative services found at the second supplier into a shopping cartof the second supplier; and presenting, by the one or more computers,the service or the group of services or the alternative services foundat the second supplier in said shopping cart of the second supplier withthe service or group of services of the first supplier for comparison.15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the online searching stepcomprises searching for, together with the services, at least oneproduct or group of products.
 16. A system for managing a purchaseorder, comprising: a search and compare software application installedon one or more electronic devices of a user and provided by a supplierof products or groups of products, said search and compare softwareapplication, when executed, comprising: a means for intercepting aconfirmation of an order for products or groups of products placed viaone or more electronic devices of a first supplier; a means for readinginformation relating to the products or groups of products ordered fromthe first supplier and means for formulating an alternative order forsaid products, groups of products or alternative products with a secondsupplier; and means for inserting said products, groups of products oralternative products of the second supplier into a shopping cart of thesecond supplier together with comparative information relating to saidproducts or groups of products available from the first supplier,wherein said search and compare software application is authorized bythe user before execution on the one or more electronic devices of theuser.
 17. The system according to claim 16, wherein said search andcompare software application is run in a background, together with theapplications of the one or more electronic devices of the userformulating the order using a purchase system of the first supplier, orhidden from said user, and said means for intercepting the ordermodifying the state of execution of the application, making it visibleto the user so as to allow acquisition of the order and transfer to anacquisition system of the second supplier.
 18. A system for managing apurchase order, comprising one or more computers executing software to:search online for at least one product or group of products to beordered from a first supplier; obtain a confirmation of availability,wherein the step of searching for the product to be ordered from thefirst supplier comprises automatically searching for the product or thegroup of products or alternative products available from at least onesecond supplier who is an alternative to the first supplier, saidautomatic searching being initiated by a search and compare softwareapplication authorized by a user and provided by the second supplier;enter the product or the group of products or the alternative productsfound at the second supplier into a shopping cart of the secondsupplier; and present the product or the group of products or thealternative products found at the second supplier in said shopping cartof the second supplier with the product or group of products of thefirst supplier for comparison.
 19. The system according to claim 18,wherein the on-line searching step comprises searching for, togetherwith the products, at least one service or group of services.
 20. Thesystem according to claim 18, wherein said online searching step isperformed by means of a software application of the first supplierwherein the software application inserts the products or the group ofproducts into a shopping cart associated with the first supplier, andsaid search and compare software application of the second suppliertransfers the products or group of products from the cart of the firstsupplier to the cart of the second supplier.
 21. The system according toclaim 18, further comprising the one or more computing devices executingsoftware to: compare a price of the product or group of products oralternative products available from the second supplier with a price ofthe product or group of products available from the first supplier. 22.The system according to claim 18, further comprising the one or morecomputing devices executing software to: compare a purchase price of allthe products or group of products or alternative products in theshopping cart of the second supplier with a purchase price of all theproducts or group of products searched for at the first supplier. 23.The system according to claim 18, wherein said search and comparesoftware application of the second supplier activates a web interfacewhich displays the products or groups of products compared in theshopping cart of the second supplier, wherein opening of said webinterface is authorized by the user.
 24. The system according to claim18, wherein said search and compare software application comprises aplug-in and said plug-in is installed in at least one browser ornavigator of an electronic device used by the user to formulate theorder.
 25. The system according to claim 18, wherein a plurality ofcarts associated with one or more types of products are managedsimultaneously, wherein said management comprises creating a newshopping cart, saving the shopping cart with the associated products orgroups of products, deleting the cart, and checking out the cart. 26.The system according to claim 25, wherein checking out comprisestransferring the ordered products in the cart to a purchase system ofthe second supplier, said purchase system being configured to performmanagement of the payment, invoicing and delivery of the orderedproducts.
 27. The system according to claim 18, wherein said search andcompare software application is downloaded from an Internet site oraddress of the second supplier, as an executable file, and saidexecutable file installed simultaneously in all the main browsers ornavigators available on an electronic device of the user or selectivelyin one or more of said available browsers or navigators.
 28. The systemaccording to claim 18, wherein the one or more computers comprises anetwork of multiple computers interconnected to perform the claimedfunctions.